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Colorado wants volunteer docs and nurses for disasters

DENVER – As part of the state’s effort to
prepare for large-scale public health emergencies, the Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment has contracted with
Global Secure to create a registry for volunteer medical
professionals who would want to assist in the event of such an
emergency.

“With the launch of the new electronic
Colorado Public Health and Medical Volunteer System, Colorado will
be better prepared to respond to large-scale public health
emergencies and maximize the skills of volunteers,” said Chris
Lindley, section chief of Emergency Preparedness and Response at
the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The medical volunteer system provides a
secure, web-based system for registering, credentialing, mobilizing
and communicating with individuals and groups of volunteers. The
volunteer system improves Colorado’s emergency response
capabilities by creating a reserve of qualified, screened
volunteers ready to assist when disasters strike.

“Through the volunteer registry, we now
can select volunteers by zip code, by skills and by their
deployment preferences, to quickly supplement existing emergency
response resources at the local level. Our response is faster and
better targeted to the precise situation created by the disaster,”
said Lindley.

In its first two months, nearly 500
volunteers have registered in one of the volunteer system’s nine
groups. Volunteers may become part of the system’s groups for
administration and logistics personnel; medical reserve corps;
dentists; allied health professionals (including pharmacists);
physicians; nurses; veterinarians; pre-hospital professionals, such
as emergency medical technicians; and mental health and mid-level
providers.

Having a large and diverse pool of
potential volunteers is critical to the Public Health and Medical
Volunteer System’s success, and state public health officials are
actively seeking individuals to add to the registry.

Mike Moreland, registry coordinator with
Emergency Preparedness and Response, said, “While all types of
volunteers are needed, we currently are working to recruit
physicians, nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists,
EMT/paramedics and veterinarians, in particular. The department’s
goal is to grow the registry to 4,000-5,000 volunteers.”

Interested volunteers may register online
at https://covolunteers.state.co.us. Volunteers indicate skills and
certification, languages spoken, zip code, availability and
deployment preferences. Once their credentials are verified,
volunteers will receive updates on training and other news based on
the preferences they set.

“Having different groups gives us the
versatility to respond to different types of situations, with the
skills needed for each unique situation,” said Moreland.

The volunteer registry allows Colorado’s
state and local public health officials to send alerts by phone or
e-mail. The system’s first priority is to improve Colorado’s
emergency response capabilities by creating a reserve of qualified,
screened medical volunteers ready to assist when disasters
strike.

“Our volunteer system gives Colorado the
best chance to respond efficiently and quickly to any public health
emergency. It gives us confidence in using volunteers because we
know who they are and have verified their credentials. Having that
peace of mind during emergencies will improve our ability to
respond,” said Moreland.

“Our vision is to use the Public Health
and Medical Volunteer System to support the community and to
address our emergency surge capacity needs,” he said. “In the
future, our goal is to have a solid foundation of all types of
volunteers in Colorado,” said Moreland.